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There's a few bits from the novels that got "lost in adaptation" that I think are relevant to some of things that have been discussed in this thread.

Spoiler for Novel Foreshadowing Cut From Episode 10:

In the source novel, it's implied that interfering in Kirito and Kayaba's duel wasn't the first time Asuna did something the system shouldn't have let her do when Kirito was in danger. After saving Kirito from Kuradeel she claims she covered the distance from Grandum to Kirito's location in five minutes, which Kirito points out is somethings that exceeds the dexterity stat limits. She smiles and tells him "It's the power of love."

Spoiler for Novel Version of Hospital Scene:

In the novel, Kirito discovers that he has numerous wires attached to his body, which he thinks might have been electrodes to slow down the degeneration of his muscles. So the author at least gave some thought to "how the heck does this guy still have enough strength to get up after two years like this?"

He's also apparently on some kind of gel bed that's supposed to break down bodily wastes and prevent infections (he recognises it from having seen it on the news before).

He also hears the sound of quite a bit of activity outside his room in the novel (it ends with him struggling towards the door, not struggling down the corridor outside).

Might not entirely satisfy some of you people, but I thought they were points worth bringing up.

There is a subtle theme in the series that asks questions like how does VR mentally effect the brain? Mental ability vs VR programming?, Is VR no different than reality?, etc.

One of the more interesting things is the tag Kirito saw that said "You are Dead" when his HP ran out.. Once you see that I think SAO puts you in a buffer temporarily(that darkness) until the NervGear kills you. I experienced some strange bugs in MMORPG's before and it not actually that far fetched that your thoughts could temporarily override the programing in a VR due to the sheer about of data needing to be processed.(In WoW I had a bug one play session where I was stuck at 3hp and only at that hp. Having a little fun I ended up soloing DeadMines as a lvl8 because I was immortal.)

There is a subtle theme in the series that asks questions like how does VR mentally effect the brain? Mental ability vs VR programming?, Is VR no different than reality?, etc.

One of the more interesting things is the tag Kirito saw that said "You are Dead" when his HP ran out.. Once you see that I think SAO puts you in a buffer temporarily(that darkness) until the NervGear kills you. I experienced some strange bugs in MMORPG's before and it not actually that far fetched that your thoughts could temporarily override the programing in a VR due to the sheer about of data needing to be processed.(In WoW I had a bug one play session where I was stuck at 3hp and only at that hp. Having a little fun I ended up soloing DeadMines as a lvl8 because I was immortal.)

Spoiler for With comparison to the LNs:

Accel World deals with how VR effects the mind as well, especially the LN's. As for what Kirito was able to do, he's done other things like that before because his willpower overrides the VR. When he was stabbed and almost pkilled while paralyzed he moved his arm and grasped the blade of the sword. In the LN's he moved an object the game said could not be moved. During his duel against Heathcliff, he moved faster than the system should have allowed(As Asuna did when she covered a distance in 5 minutes that should have been impossible for her), and finally at the end he both came back after derezzing, picked up a sword that should have derezzed with Asuna, and managed to actually kill Kayaba while dead with a weapon that shouldn't exist dropped by a player who shouldn't have been able to move. The whole series is all about how with enough will you can do the impossible.

There's a few bits from the novels that got "lost in adaptation" that I think are relevant to some of things that have been discussed in this thread.

Spoiler for Novel Foreshadowing Cut From Episode 10:

In the source novel, it's implied that interfering in Kirito and Kayaba's duel wasn't the first time Asuna did something the system shouldn't have let her do when Kirito was in danger. After saving Kirito from Kuradeel she claims she covered the distance from Grandum to Kirito's location in five minutes, which Kirito points out is somethings that exceeds the dexterity stat limits. She smiles and tells him "It's the power of love."

Spoiler for Novel Version of Hospital Scene:

In the novel, Kirito discovers that he has numerous wires attached to his body, which he thinks might have been electrodes to slow down the degeneration of his muscles. So the author at least gave some thought to "how the heck does this guy still have enough strength to get up after two years like this?"

He's also apparently on some kind of gel bed that's supposed to break down bodily wastes and prevent infections (he recognises it from having seen it on the news before).

He also hears the sound of quite a bit of activity outside his room in the novel (it ends with him struggling towards the door, not struggling down the corridor outside).

Might not entirely satisfy some of you people, but I thought they were points worth bringing up.

There is a subtle theme in the series that asks questions like how does VR mentally effect the brain? Mental ability vs VR programming?, Is VR no different than reality?, etc.

One of the more interesting things is the tag Kirito saw that said "You are Dead" when his HP ran out.. Once you see that I think SAO puts you in a buffer temporarily(that darkness) until the NervGear kills you. I experienced some strange bugs in MMORPG's before and it not actually that far fetched that your thoughts could temporarily override the programing in a VR due to the sheer about of data needing to be processed.(In WoW I had a bug one play session where I was stuck at 3hp and only at that hp. Having a little fun I ended up soloing DeadMines as a lvl8 because I was immortal.)

Accel World deals with how VR effects the mind. As for what Kirito was able to do, the whole series is all about how with enough will you can do the impossible.

Just wondering, shouldn't hospitals provide slippers?
Kirito is walking barefooted down the corridor.

To them, Kirito is just another vegetable. Why bother. I heard the writer was in the production team initially. The production team already stamps out some plot holes. We can use speculation to justify the reason, but I have a feeling about it. The feeling is that the "flaw" is the intention for the as-is conclusion. Asuna, dead or alive, is left in mystery. Kirito walks away with the hope in his mind. He will live his real life fully as much as his online life. Then, the publisher knocks on his door. "Hey! Let's write more chapters". So to speak.

Nishida... huh. Wasn't that the guy who murdered his wife? I'm surprised he survived.

Grimlock was the guy that had his wife murdered. Seeing as Yolko and Caynz had no intention of committing murder themselves, it's not surprising he survived. Just have him locked up in the game's dungeon with all the other captured bandits and so forth, and he'd be immune from death, even at his own hand.

We don't know how the process happens, or what is the timeframe between SAO's death and real life death. Even in the novels it is not explained.

That said, it could be that the players go to a limbo and Kayaba does the final execution himself. At least any PKs wouldn't be persecuted for manslaughter after the game ends because Kayaba is actually the one who does it.

First it seems to be a normal episode. Then something happens and there is the very strong feeling that it's suddenly the last episode. Seemed way too sudden. Then there was the coming next preview, and I'm like, oh it's not over.

You know what would be reallllly funny? If the creator had actually programmed a fake "win"/destruction of the world, as well as a fake "waking up in hospital" scene, only to throw them into (as he said in this episode, "another world that is similar") another world like SAO.

The ultimate troll move indeed. Oh come on Kayaba, you dirty whor3, please pull a troll move like this lululululul.

edit:
Anyway, the only really fishy thing was the whole "i gotta get going now/do my thing" Do what Kayaba? What's going on? Is there something we're missing here?

In regards to the hospital thing.... A metric poo ton of people just came out of their comas, Kirito was one of the last, first come first serve they would be busy else where. Of course why are there no people rushing around the corridor around his room, no idea xD